Each year, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Asheville and Buncombe County hosts an annual MLK Prayer Breakfast at the Crowne Plaza Resort in west Asheville, bringing together and inspiring more than 1,000 attendees.

Givens Communities, a nationally recognized leader in senior living services, once again is a platinum sponsor, with this year’s event scheduled for Saturday, January 17. Both Givens residents and team members will attend.

Doors open at 7:30 a.m. and the program starts at 8:30 a.m. sharp. The speaker will be Mike Kelly, known for helping individuals lead with purpose, integrity, and service. He is a Trustee Emeritus of Mars Hill University and an active Rotarian. Kelly brings decades of leadership experience and a deep commitment to community uplift — values that reflect Dr. King’s vision for justice and collective responsibility.

With a theme of “Celebrating 45 Years of Resilience – Marching Toward the Dream,” founder and board president Dr. Oralene Simmons said this anniversary is “more than a celebration of resilience, it is a reminder that we are the beloved community he imagined and that together we carry the work forward.”